THE FULL GRID REVIEW
Archive · Round 2 · Mar 15, 2026
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Round 2 · Chinese Grand Prix · Shanghai

Antonelli's first win, Hamilton's first Ferrari podium

Kimi Antonelli turned pole into his first Grand Prix victory, while McLaren went home with nothing.

The result
P1AntonelliMercedes
P2RussellMercedes · +5.515s
P3HamiltonFerrari · +25.267s
4Charles LeclercFerrari+28.894s
5Ollie BearmanHaas+57.268s
6Pierre GaslyAlpine+59.647s
7Liam LawsonRacing Bulls+1:20.588
8Isack HadjarRed Bull+1:27.247
9Carlos SainzWilliams+1 lap
10Franco ColapintoAlpine+1 lap
What happened

Antonelli lost the start to Lewis Hamilton but took the lead back and controlled the race from there, surviving a late lock-up into the hairpin that he admitted gave him a scare. George Russell worked his way past both Ferraris to complete a second straight Mercedes one-two.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fought hard over third, and Hamilton held on for his first podium in red. Ollie Bearman was best of the rest in fifth for Haas after dodging Isack Hadjar's first-lap spin.

Why it matters

McLaren's lost weekend

Neither McLaren took the start. Norris had an electrical power unit fault and Piastri's car failed on the grid. Team principal Andrea Stella called the double failure exceptional.

Red Bull's reliability worry

Max Verstappen recovered to sixth after a poor launch, then retired with an ERS cooling problem. Both Aston Martins also retired, Lance Stroll with a battery failure and Fernando Alonso with severe vibration.

The title race takes shape

Russell leads Antonelli by four points after two rounds, and Ferrari's drivers are already 17 and 18 points behind.

Drivers' championship after Round 2
PosDriverPtsGap
1Russell51—
2Antonelli47−4
3Leclerc34−17
4Hamilton33−18
5Bearman17−34
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